In 1932, Walt Disney considered building a family park on a vacant 16 acre plot directly across the street from his studios.
Unfortunately the idea was turned down by the City of Burbank. That, however, didn’t discourage him to further elaborate on his ideas over the next few decades. Not everyone was as enthusiastic as Walt about the project. Bankers, investors and lot of people within the company were strongly opposed to it. However, this is

Walt Disney we’re talking about here, he wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer, the vintagenews.com reports.

Construction finally began on July 16, 1954. After one full year of rigorous construction demands and a total investment of $ 17 million, the gates of Disneyland would be opened for its first guests on Sunday, July 17, 1955 in Anaheim, California. And the rest, as they say, is history. It is the only theme park designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney.